A near-miss incident involving two aircraft at Jabiru in the Top End of the Northern Territory has been used as an example of the importance of checking radio equipment.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has highlighted the incident of October 5 last year in an investigation bulletin released today.

The pilot of a passenger plane on a flight from Darwin didn't notice until the final minutes of approach to Jabiru aerodrome that another plane was on the runway.

Both planes had to take evasive action to avoid a collision.

The pilots of both aircraft had used radios to broadcast their movements but the Safety Bureau report says the radio in the plane on the runway wasn't working because a switch was in the wrong position.

Jabiru is inside Kakadu National Park, about 230 kilometres east of Darwin.